Sulṭān Muḥammad

Sulṭān Muḥammad, (flourished 16th century, Safavid Iran), one of the greatest of Persian painters and the most notable artist of the Safavid school at Tabrīz, Iran.

During the period 1495–1522 Sulṭān Muḥammad was probably the leading exponent of the Turkmen school of painting current in western Iran under the Ak Koyunlu (“White Sheep”) and Kara Koyunlu (“Black Sheep”) Turkmens. This school was marked by dynamic verve, illogical perspectives, concealed grotesques, violent colours, and a strong tendency to see excess as a source of virtue. This Dionysiac style was well suited to the fervent temperament of Shah Ismāʿīl I. Yet in 1522, when the aged painter Behzād of Herāt came to reside at the court with several of his disciples, Sulṭān Muḥammad began to be influenced by the balanced, harmonious, and humane school of Herāt. The result was a magnificent blend of all the best elements of Persian painting. Sulṭān Muḥammad also found the perfect patron, the young shah Ṭahmāsp I, son of Ismāʿīl, who took painting lessons from him. No doubt Ṭahmāsp’s predilection for Herāt painting also influenced the work of Sulṭān Muḥammad.

During the period 1520–38 Sulṭān Muḥammad worked along with the other court artists on the great Shāh-nāmeh (“Book of Kings”) of Ṭahmāsp. With Shaykh-zādeh, a pupil of Behzād, he illustrated a Dīvān of Ḥāfeẓ and a Dīvān of the Turkish poet Mīr ʿAlī Shīr Navāʿī in 1526 and 1527. He also worked (1539–43) on the Khamseh of Neẓāmī, illustrated for Shah Ṭahmāsp. Soon after this the shah turned away from painting, convinced that it was a frivolous and irreligious diversion, and, though some of the shah’s relatives continued to act as patrons, Sulṭān Muḥammad seems to have painted no more. His son, Mīrzā ʿAlī (Muḥammadī), already a notable artist, became one of the leading painters of the next generation.

Sulṭān Muḥammad’s style was diverse, and he was considered a master by his contemporaries. In composition, colour, draftsmanship, verve, wit, and profundity he is clearly one of the greatest painters of the Islamic world, on a par with Behzād.